Or perhaps, all of it was just an excuse for his affair and his scheme to seize my shares.

Arnold had been at odds with Elwin for years. He knew exactly how to twist the knife.

Sure enough, Elwin fixed his glare on me, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscles twitch.

"Maureen, have you lost your mind? You're selling your shares to him?"

"How much did he pay you to throw away your position as a Gilbert daughter? Do you really want to make an enemy of me?"

"Can you not tell the difference between one good meal and a lifetime of them?"

"Or did you use those shares as a bargaining chip to become his mistress, just so the two of you could humiliate me together?"

So that was it. In Elwin's eyes, neither my devotion nor I as a person had ever been worthy of the light of day.

I didn't look at him. Instead, I turned to Arnold with a smile playing at the corners of my lips.

"Then I'll have to trouble Mr. Delgado to show me something impressive. I'm dying to see how the daughter of the richest man in the country plans to save Starlight Corporation from bankruptcy."

Arnold held my gaze for a moment, then pulled out his phone and made a call.

"In half an hour, Starlight's stock will hit its lower limit."

The certainty in his voice caught even me off guard.

I wouldn't have dared claim I could tank Starlight's stock in thirty minutes. Was this guy overselling himself?

But it was Valerie whose eyes flickered with panic.

She clutched Elwin's arm, her voice unsteady. "Elwin, you don't think he's found some powerful backer, do you?"

Elwin pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips. "Silly girl. What backer could possibly be more powerful than you?"

He turned back to me with a sneer. "Maureen, you're giving him way too much credit. If he had the ability to bring me down, he wouldn't have kept it hidden all this time."

"Besides, with Valerie here, neither of you can touch a single hair on Starlight's head."

But his mockery only made Valerie's unease more visible.

When she caught my knowing look, she opened her mouth as if to say something—then defaulted to slinging mud at me instead.

"Maureen, you latched onto Arnold awfully fast. Don't tell me you two have been carrying on behind everyone's backs this whole time?"

Elwin's already dark expression turned thunderous.

"Maureen, is this your way of getting back at me for not proposing to you today?"

"If you truly loved me, shouldn't you feel guilty? Shouldn't you step aside and wish me happiness when I've found someone better?"

I stared at the mouth moving in front of me, unable to believe this was the man I'd loved for years.

I felt nothing but shame for my own blindness.

Fury surged through me. I reached over and took Arnold's hand, lacing my fingers through his.

"You've already cheated and found your true love. Am I not allowed to move on?"

"Or is it that I sold my shares to Arnold instead of handing them over to your mistress for free, and now you're barking about it?"

Elwin, humiliated and enraged, raised his hand to slap me.

I sidestepped.

He stumbled, off-balance, and took Valerie down with him. They hit the floor face-first.

Arnold and I couldn't help it. Our eyes met, and we burst out laughing.

Everyone else wanted to laugh but didn't dare.

They could only point at me and hurl insults.

"Maureen, you shameless little tramp! You've got some nerve! Cross Mr. Gilbert, and you can forget about surviving in Bayview City!"

"Exactly! The Gilbert family could crush you like an ant! You're acting high and mighty now, but you'll be on your knees begging soon enough!"

I shrugged, utterly unconcerned.

"Is that so? I have a feeling the one begging on their knees might be someone else entirely."

Elwin glared at me with fury blazing in his eyes, unable to fathom where my calm confidence came from.

A flicker of unease stirred in his chest—but Valerie's sobbing quickly drowned it out.

"Valerie, are you okay? Where does it hurt?"

Elwin could tolerate his own embarrassing fall.

But watching Valerie go down? That shattered him.

He scooped her up immediately, examining her for injuries with painstaking care. The tenderness in his eyes was unconcealed—the same tenderness I once knew so well.

But now, it no longer belonged to me.

Valerie clutched her scraped arm, crying harder than ever.

"Elwin, how dare she treat us like this?"

"It's bad enough she sold our company secrets, but now she's humiliating me too. If my parents found out..."

A vicious glint flashed through Elwin's eyes.

He turned on me, seething.

"Maureen, I'm giving you two choices. Either hand your shares directly to Valerie and get on your knees to apologize—and I might forgive you for old times' sake, even acknowledge you as my honorary sister."

"Or I call the police and press charges for leaking company secrets. You can rot in prison."

I smiled faintly. "I choose neither."

Elwin froze, clearly not expecting me to be so uncooperative.

Five years together. I was ruthless in business, but with him? Always soft. Always accommodating.

Rage overtook him. He stormed toward me and kicked the back of my knee.

"Maureen! You forced my hand!"

"You will kneel and apologize to your future sister-in-law! And you'll learn the Gilbert family rules while you're at it!"

"Otherwise, if you ever set foot in the Gilbert household acting like this, don't expect my parents to accept you as their goddaughter!"

My knee buckled. I collapsed to the floor in front of Valerie, unable to stop myself.

Arnold tried to pull me up, but Elwin's employees swarmed him instantly.

Within two seconds, he was on his knees beside me, forced down by the crowd.

"You really thought our Mr. Gilbert wouldn't bite back? That he's some harmless kitten?"

"Trying to ruin Starlight Corporation's big day and make trouble for our boss? You two can kneel there and confess!"

I checked the time. Only ten minutes remained of the half hour Arnold had mentioned.

Yet here he was, kneeling alongside me.

Fortunately, while he'd been on the phone, I'd already messaged my parents and brother.

Still, dragging Arnold into this weighed on my conscience.

I shifted on my knees, leaning close to whisper in his ear.

"Don't worry. I'm the real daughter of Capital City's wealthiest family..."

But the moment the words left my lips, Elwin yanked me roughly aside.

"Maureen!"

"Have you no shame? I won't marry you, so you throw yourself at Arnold Delgado?"

"And now you're playing dress-up, claiming to be some billionaire's daughter? Let's see if Arnold believes that!"

To everyone's shock, Arnold nodded with absolute seriousness and began fighting off the men restraining him.

"Whatever Maureen says, I believe!"

The sight of Arnold protecting me despite his own injuries struck Elwin like a blade.

His eyes blazed crimson. His hand flew up to slap me.

"So you were cheating on me all along!"

Just as his palm was about to connect with my face, Phineas burst through, shouting in panic.

"Mr. Gilbert! We have a problem! The stock price that was surging—it's plummeting!"

Elwin glanced at the numbers. The color drained from his face. When he looked back at Arnold and me, his gaze was murderous.

"Maureen! I'm giving you one last chance to stop this. Become my honorary sister, or if Starlight Corporation goes down, we're taking this to the grave!"

"Then I'll be watching."

Elwin was certain that even if Arnold and I joined forces, we couldn't cause any real damage.

But the stock continued its freefall. Within five minutes, it had crashed—and made the top headline in financial news.

Elwin's eyes went bloodshot with rage. He lunged at me, his hands closing around my throat like a vise.

"Maureen, what the hell did you two do?"

"I was willing to call you my sister—what more do you want from me?"

Arnold threw himself forward to help me, but Elwin kicked him down again. Blood sprayed from Arnold's mouth as he hit the ground.

Yet Arnold laughed through the pain.

"Touch her again, Elwin. I dare you. You're finished."

Elwin's gaze snapped to the stock ticker on his phone—the numbers were hemorrhaging red. He barked at Phineas to activate crisis PR.

That's when the hotel doors burst open.

"The richest man in Capital City is here!"

"Word is he's come to meet his future son-in-law!"

Elwin's eyes lit up with manic hope. In the same motion, he raised his hand to strike my face.

"STOP!"

The roar came from the entrance.

Elwin glanced back at the newcomer—then, without hesitation, slapped me twice across the face.

Only then did he jog over to my father, bowing deeply with a servile smile.

"Dad! You didn't have to come all this way yourself!"

"Don't worry, I've been taking excellent care of your daughter. She hasn't suffered at all! Perhaps you could help me with—"